Swedish “Internet World” reports that the Norwegian Consumer Ombudsman (Forbrukerombudet) has ruled that the Itunes store is illegal because the music for sale can only be played in Apple’s own Ipods and not in competitors’ music players.

The ombudsman says joint European action is planned to force Apple to comply.

The Norwegian ombudsman wants Itunes to open up for rival players, and has given Apple until October 1 to implement the change. If nothing is done by the deadline, the ombudsman will take Apple to court. Apple risks having to pay fines and possibly been closed out of the Norwegian market (admittedly not one of Apple’s biggest markets, but should the European Union work with Norway that would be a major market).

The consumers ombudsmen in Sweden, Denmark, and Finland have already been in contact with Apple on the same issue. The Scandinavian ombudsmen issued a joint press release last summer accusing Apple of violating the law in the the countries.

The Norwegian ombudsman says France and Germany are also now getting involved. According to a press release, joint European action is planned:

Consumer organisations from across Europe have agreed on joint positions in a legal battle with Apple to achieve consumer friendly conditions for iTunes users throughout Europe. “We will join forces to safeguard consumer interests when purchasing digital content online”, the Consumer Ombudsmen in Finland and Norway, the French Consumer Organisation UFC Que Choisir and the Federation of German Consumer Organisations (vzbv) declared in a joint statement. The four organisations agreed on a list of demands which are included in letters which some of the organisations wrote to iTunes today.

Besides opening the music to other players, the Norwegian ombudsman also wants iTunes sales to be regulated by the consumer legislation in the purchaser’s country.

“Internet World” says Apple has indicated it intends to fight.